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To provide a sound understanding of Zakah compliance behaviour, this paper aims to shed light on the relationships between Zakah system fairness, Zakah morale, peer influence and law enforcement with Zakah compliance behaviour among entrepreneurs.

The underpinning model used in this paper is the socio-economic theory of regulatory compliance for assessing the probable determinants shaping Zakah payers' compliance behaviour. Based on a survey of active entrepreneurs in a typical Islamic situation like Yemen, a total of 500 self-administered instruments were distributed to the respondents. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate the compliance model.

All the variables included in the compliance model are statistically significant, except for law enforcement. Zakah compliance of entrepreneurs is significantly influenced by Zakah system fairness, Zakah morale and peer influence.

Zakah institutions and agencies in Muslim-majority countries may use the results of this work to focus attention on appropriate proactive policies to formulate a fair Zakah system, inculcating moral responsibility among Zakah payers, embarking on sensitisation programmes in society as a whole, and being more proactive in educating Muslims in the importance of paying Zakah to the respective Zakah agencies.

This paper complements the limited literature on Zakah by examining both tangible and intangible motivations affecting Zakah payers' compliance decision.

This research aims to explore the moderating role of alms tax (zakat) knowledge in the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations (i.e. political instability, trust in institutions and service quality) and zakat compliance among businessmen in a Muslim developing country.

A final sample of 315 Algerian entrepreneurs randomly collected through a self-administered survey was analysed. Drawing on the social cognitive theory, estimation and analysis were done using structural equation modelling (Smart PLS).

The results indicate that all the hypothesised direct relationships are supported. Particularly, the knowledge-moderated interaction of political instability’s effect on entrepreneurs’ zakat compliance intention was significant, while its interactions with service quality and trust were not.

Findings that emerged from this study may serve as a reminder to zakat agencies and policymakers that varying degrees of knowledge about zakat can have a significant impact on shaping intentions to comply with zakat rules, particularly in an unstable political environment. Additionally, this work sheds light on the critical role of service quality delivered by zakat institutions and businessmen’s trust in such entities in shaping their zakat compliance intentions. Finally, it demonstrates how critical it is to strengthen the business sector’s social responsibility to support the zakat’s noble socioeconomic objectives.

This present work augments the scanty literature on zakat compliance because it validates a research model drawing on social cognitive perspectives. Additionally, the model blends the moderating role of knowledge into social cognitive perspectives of zakat compliance among businessmen.

This paper aims to explore the perception of business owners’ on zakat compliance by examining the influence of intention to pay zakat, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural controls and past behaviour.

A total of 575 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to active business owners in Algeria. The data were analysed using variance-based structural modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the hypothesised relationships.

The results revealed that the relationships between attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural controls were positive and significant with the intention to comply with zakat, which significantly influences the compliance behaviour of zakat.

In a country like Algeria with a high poverty rate, the current findings would benefit authorities in understanding zakat compliance and assist zakat administration in formulating and implementing strategies to promote compliance.

The present research extends the existing zakat knowledge from behavioural perspectives by using the extended theory of planned behaviour. In addition, it considers the mediating role of intention demonstrated in the zakat compliance setting.

As one of the constituted main pillars of Islam, Zakah compliance (ZC) is mandated upon Muslims from all studies of life. Taking the disappointingly low compliance level in developing countries, including Yemen, as its backdrop, the purpose of this study is to investigate ZC behavior among entrepreneurs, drawing on the economic approach perspective.

The study adopted a cross-sectional design based on a survey of entrepreneurs in Yemen. It used primary data collected via self-administered questionnaires, involving a sample of 500 participants. A variance-based structural modeling equation-partial least squares were used to measure the instruments and assess the hypothesized relationships.

The findings affirmed the suitability of the economic factors approaches in the context of ZC in a developing country. Specifically, the study demonstrated that Zakah law complexity has a significant negative influence on ZC of entrepreneurs. It also found a significant positive relationship between religiosity and ZC among the study sample, whereas the study revealed that law enforcement has no influence on compliance behavior.

Policies and programs focused on Zakah laws and regulations could be formulated to make them less complex and simpler for acceptable levels of ZC. The result is further relevant to policymakers in Muslim communities to strengthen the religious faith of Zakah payers toward compliance with one of the fundamental religious obligations such as Zakah.

This study enriches the limited previous studies on actual ZC from the perspective of developing communities, especially Yemen. Most importantly, the value was added to the limited literature internationally from an economic aspect.

Although Zakah is the cornerstone of the social protection system in Muslim societies, providing relief to those in need and collecting funds from those who have access to money and property, many administrative and legal improvements need to be made to ensure that Zakah funds are managed effectively and efficiently in Muslim states. It is therefore important to recognize why some Muslims are not paying their Zakah through Zakah authorities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a viable and comprehensive research model, derived from an economic and socio-psychological perspective, to provide a richer understanding of Zakah payers’ compliance behaviour.

Drawing on extant literature, this study offers a conceptual framework for a better understanding of compliance behaviour by proposing an economic and socio-psychological model based on Fischer’s tax compliance model, which could be applied cautiously in an Islamic setting like Zakah.

The four main categories of the Fischer model are derived from socio-psychological and economic perspectives, namely, attitude and perception (system fairness, ethics and peer influence); Zakah system structure (Zakah law complexity and law enforcement); non-compliance opportunity (education level, wealth source and occupation); and demographic factors (age and gender). Each has much to offer in understanding Zakah payers’ compliance decisions. To suit the nature of Zakah, the influence of Islamic religiosity and the moderating effect of trust in the Zakah institution are incorporated into the model.

Those Muslim communities that strive to have functional Zakah systems to search for solutions to the perennial problem of low Zakah funding and its damning consequences, are offered a compliance model for systematically assessing Muslims’ compliance behaviour with Zakah provisions. This framework is anticipated to offer invaluable input to policymakers in streaming and strategizing the minimization of losses of Zakah revenue to Zakah authorities.

Although behavioural models such as the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behaviour have been extensively used in Zakah compliance studies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is perhaps the first to apply a socio-psychological and economic framework, emerging from tax literature, in the Zakah environment to develop fully understanding of Zakah payers’ compliance decisions.

Although zakat is a principal way to redistribute wealth, a unique practice designed to achieve a sustainable Islamic economic and social system, zakat institutions and agencies in most Muslim countries still suffer from the perplexing issue of low zakat collections, ascribing this to the level of compliance among zakat payers. To provide more insight into this lacuna, this study aims to examine the role of trust in zakat institution through the relationship between socio-economic determinants (i.e. religiosity, moral reasoning, peer influence and system fairness) and zakat compliance decisions.

From a typical Islamic country, Yemen, a random sample of 274 entrepreneurs was drawn for a self-administered survey. To estimate and analyze the compliance model, SmartPLS structural equation modeling was used.

The results show that all hypothesized direct relationships are supported. Importantly, the trust-moderated interactions of religiosity, moral reasoning and peer influence on zakat compliance are significant, although its interaction with zakat system fairness is not.

The results should be helpful for policymakers and responsible institutions in Muslim communities to understand how different levels of trust can play an important role in Zakat payers’ compliance to boost or erode zakat funds. This research also contributes important inferences for managers about the necessity of inculcating religious and moral values among zakat payers, formulating a fair system and embarking on sensitization programs in society.

The research enriches the scanty literature by validating a viable compliance model drawing on the socio-economic theory of regulatory compliance. Moreover, the model integrates the moderating role of trust in socio-economic perspectives of zakat compliance.